Sailing on the Piscataqua

Not a lot of wind, but lots of boat waves.  We spent 45 minutes going against the current and then three minutes coming back!  For someone who grew up sailing just a sunfish on a lake with no currents or tide, the river seems intimidating, to say the least.

Ah, summer

I'm keeping up with the tomatoes this summer!

Swim to Sandy

I've read that we live in an age without rites and rituals, but in our family we do have at least one pre-adolescent ritual, and that is the swim to Sandy Island.  The swim had more significance when I was a child, because after a successful swim my grandfather allowed us to ride in the motorboat without wearing a life jacket.  But now, with the state government regulating that anyone 12 and under must wear a life jacket, the swim is not quite as big a deal.  But, the kids still get the satisfaction of completing the swim, along with a cool $20 bill from Grandpa (and somehow my kids have managed to mix in a trip to the candy counter at the Old Country Store).

Last year, although she was fully capable of swimming the distance (about 1/3 of a mile), Clara had a swim early in the summer that was so cold she aborted her attempt.  So this year she tried again and did it with no problem at all, laughing and talking the entire way.  

Pinocchio

I took Clara and her friend Kennedy to see Pinocchio at the Peterborough Players.  This was a real treat for Kennedy, who as one of five siblings (soon to be six) doesn't get to do many things that are just for her.  She and Clara had a fabulous time, and to my surprise so did I.  I was expecting to endure a somewhat inane children's production, but to my surprise it was one of the best productions I've seen at the Players.  It was put on as a play-within-a-play, and it was creative and funny, and the music was fantastic.  What an unexpected treat for a summertime Monday evening.

Fancy Dress Party

Ok, it was just a pig roast, but we don't have much of a chance to dress up here in rural New Hampshire.  

Nubi Kids Camp

One of the highlights of our first few summers at Nubi was Nubi Kids Camp, run by Catherine and Elsbeth, the only teenagers in the neighborhood.  It was a morning camp, 9-12 Mon-Thu, with Thursday spent at Pitcher Mountain picking blueberries.  It was a great chance for the neighborhood kids to bond as a group.  

In 2014 there was no camp.  Lee and Lila were getting too old, and there were lots of younger kids.  So this year Lee and Lila decided to take the reins and run the camp for a week.  They ended up with eight kids from age 3-8.  I don't know how they did it!  They did a lot of prep work, planning activities and scheduling each day.  Tuesday was a complete washout, so they had to be flexible and move things around.  There were lots of challenges along the way, but they both emphatically said that they wanted to do it again next year.